Blink Of An Eye
by TeamJempwarth
Summary: What happens when an avowed FMA hater suddenly gets sucked into Amestris? And what happens when her friends- who are completely obsessed- have to come and rescue her? Ed has another headache to deal with.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: Harper And Marie Are Writing This! We Decided To Have A Little Fun At Rachel's Expense.)

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The bell rang signaling the end of class. Rachel gathered her books and took off for the cafeteria. She went to her usual table where her friends were already chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

Marie poked her head out from behind her FMA book. Harper was talking animatedly about ninjas to no one in particular. Anna looked up from her food.

"Hey!" Marie waved her over. Harper stopped talking and looked in Rachel's direction then waved energetically.

Rachel took her usual seat across from Anna. She pointed a finger at Marie's book.

"Why do you read those violent things?" She questioned.

"Oh come on Rachel. We all love the series it's just you who doesn't."

Harper and Anna nodded in agreement, then high-fived each other.

"He's a fictional character. Who has a dinosaur for a brother!" Rachel shouted (people turned their heads in their direction).

"Don't insult Al in that way!" Harper yelled. (Which in turn caused more heads to look in their direction).

"Besides he's not a dinosaur." Anna chimed in.

"Optimus Prime…." Rachel whispered.

"I HEARD THAT!" Marie shouted. By this time the entire cafeteria was staring.

"God, guys shut up. Everyone's watching." Rachel pointed behind her, "Hey, I've got to get going. See you during connections."

As Rachel walked out of the cafeteria kids stared at her, she glared at them as she passed.

Rachel strolled into the library and walked to the back of the room. There were computers lined up on a table. She chose one at random and sat down. She was about to turn it on when something caught her eye. It was an old, dusty book, with odd symbols on the cover. Curious, she opened the heavy cover. The first page had circles with designs inside them. It looked like those "transmutation circles" that Marie and Harper were always drawing all over their binders and stuff.

"Alchemy. Pshh." Rachel grumbled. Absentmindedly, she began to flip pages until she came across one with a picture of a giant door. There was an eye on the front of it, and as she stared at it, it seemed to blink at her. Rachel felt a weird sensation, as if the world was twisting. She looked back at the picture. The eye blinked once more, then the world faded into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: Harper here! Yeah so the last chapter was waaaaay to short but hey it was just pretty much an intro. So yeah. Marie says nothing.)

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"Do you think we found a lead this time, Brother?"

"I'm not sure, Al." Edward Elric sighed deeply, and began to walk down the steps away from the Central Library.

Al looked away, toward the midday sun. _Brother's never thinking of his own well-being, _he thought to himself, _only mine. _

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Al turned to see a very odd sight. A very strange-looking girl was practically on top of Edward. She was normal enough at first glance, but looked… out of place, somehow. Brown hair, blue eyes, and the oddest fashion sense Al had ever seen. _Brother has a weird taste in clothing, but this is just crazy. _

Of course, this whole time no one had even thought about the most obvious question- where had this girl come from in the first place?

"Get OFF!" Ed practically screamed at her. She blinked, like she was coming out of a daze, and then jumped up off of Ed.

"God, I'm sorry- I…I was just looking at this book, then I saw a picture of this door... it…it had an eye in the center, and it BLINKED at me…" the girl began to babble.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down. You saw a door with an eye in the center? You mean the Gate?" Ed asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, I guess so… I mean, it was just a big door, but…" her words trailed off.

Ed and Al stared at each other for a moment. Then Al looked back at the girl, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Rachel…" She seemed to be trying to concentrate on something. "Wait a second… I feel like I know you guys from somewhere… WOW falling out of the sky really screws with your ability to function."

Ed smiled. "I'm sure you'll be fine in no time. Do you think you can tell me everything that happened to you before you came here?"

"Yeah I guess…" Then all of a sudden Rachel gasped.

"What is it?" Al asked with concern.

"You're… you're those weird guys who my friends are obsessed with! The Elric brothers, right?"

"Yeah, that's us… umm… we have fangirls?" Ed was confused.

"Yeah, you have like a bazillion… hey wait! I don't like you!" Rachel turned and ran off.

Al sighed. "Brother, you really need to work on your people skills."

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Meanwhile, Anna, Marie and Harper were on their way to connections. Rachel hadn't shown up, but they just figured she was skipping again and thought nothing of it.

"I wonder why Rachel's skipping. We aren't doing anything in P.E. today, so she has no reason to complain…" Harper mused.

Anna responded with, "Rachel's just weird like that."

Harper was serious (for once). "I don't know… This just doesn't seem like something Rachel would just do."

"I went to the library after lunch… her agenda was still on the counter, but she wasn't in the library anywhere. Apparently, no one saw her leave." Marie said, looking worried.

"And you just now decided to tell us this?" Harper asked angrily.

Marie elbowed Harper. "I just figured she left the library and forgot her agenda."

Anna nodded. "Sounds like a Rachel kind of thing."

"…I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Harper said thoughtfully.

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Rachel was lost. Hopelessly lost. She'd been running away from that Edward kid, and the dinosaur. Then she stopped to think._ I wonder how I got here_, she thought. _All I remember is that book…_Wait. _I KNEW BOOKS WOULD BE THE DEATH OF ME! _**(A/N- I LOVE BOOKS!!! –Ahem. -Oh sorry. WE love books.)**

No, Rachel. Focus. You have to figure out how to leave.

After that little mental pep talk, Rachel began to walk again, but much more slowly.

_I never thought I'd say this, but I wish I had paid more attention when Marie, Anna and Harper were talking about this crap. Maybe I'd have known how to get out of here._

Rachel continued to walk, looking at all of the stores and houses on the streets of Central. She turned a corner, and abruptly ran into someone.

"I've gotta stop doing that…" Rachel muttered as she picked herself up off the floor. Then, more clearly, she said, "I'm sorry ma'am," to the woman on the ground near her. Rachel held out a hand to help her up.

The woman took it and stood up. "Thank you. My name is Gracia."

"I don't remember them talking about you…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing… Look, ma'am…" Rachel started.

"Please, call me Gracia."

"Alright, Gracia… do you know a place that I can stay?"

"Actually, yes. There are some very nice hotels around here…" Gracia began, but was interrupted by Rachel.

"I…I really don't have any money," Rachel said in a quiet voice.

"Well, then. I guess you'll just have to stay with my family and I." Gracia's tone was final.

Rachel looked up. "Are you sure?"

Gracia nodded. "Follow me. It's not far from here."

So they walked.

And when they got there…

"Hughes, honey, this girl, Rachel, needed a place to stay. I told her she could stay with us for a while. Is that alright with you?" Gracia called.

"Hughes… I know that name…"

"Yes, that's fine…" **(A/N: God knows it's not the first time a complete stranger has been invited into another complete strangers' home…) **

A man walked around the corner, and at the sight of his face…

"OH GOD! IT'S YOU!!! THE CRAZY 'FAMILY MAN'!" Rachel screamed and tried to run away, but to no avail. Hughes had caught her wrist.

"Now, now, what have we here? You seem to know me, but you are a complete stranger to me. How is that, I wonder?" Hughes looked thoughtful. "I'd better take you to Roy. He usually knows what to do in this type of situation."

Gracia looked worried. "Is that really necessary, dear?"

Hughes looked serious. "Yes."

Rachel looked scared. "Wait…Roy? You mean like… _Mustang?_

Hughes was amused. "The very same. You know him, too?"

_Oh, God, if I ever get out of here, Harper's going to kill me… _Rachel thought.

So Rachel was dragged against her will into Hughes' car, on the way to meet The Flame Alchemist.

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Harper, Marie, and Anna were in the library after school. They were poking around, looking for any sign of Rachel… when Anna found the book.

"A transmutation circle…" Anna and Marie breathed together, as Harper stared, white-faced, at the book.

"Oh God…"

"What is it Harper?" Marie asked.

"She's in FMA-land and she might meet Mustang…_ AND I'M NOT THERE!!!_


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N: I'm gonna continue writing this story cuz I like it, even if it's the crappiest story EVER. And also, Marie has ceased to help me write. Mostly. So now Harper is the only one writing. Mostly.)

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Rachel was in a car. An old car, at that. She'd never seen a car this ancient before. It wasn't exactly comfortable, especially considering the fact that she was being dragged against her will. _How do I get into these things?_ she wondered silently.

"It'll be alright, Rachel. I just want to find out how you know so much about me already when I've never met you." Hughes smiled reassuringly at her. "Hey, to pass the time, do you want to see pictures of my Elysia?"

"Who?"

"My daughter, Elysia." Hughes pulled out a picture of a little girl. "Isn't she adorable? I think she looks like an angel!!!"

"O-kaay…" Rachel tried her best to smile.

"Oh, we're here already. Come on, Miss Rachel, let's go." Hughes helped her out of the car. They walked up the long flight of stone steps and into Central Headquarters.

A chorus of "Welcome, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" and "Hey, Hughes!" met them as they walked down the hallway. When the voices died down, they walked in silence until they came to a door.

"Knock, knock," Hughes sang as he opened the door and entered the room. Rachel followed nervously. Inside was the man she took to be Mustang **(A/N: Fangirl squeal!!!)** and a blonde woman with a gun standing protectively near him.

_Who is __that__? _Rachel thought. _I do not recall a blonde chick ever being talked about in the same conversation as Mustang._

"Who's this, Hughes?" Mustang questioned.

"Well, Roy, this is a girl named Rachel. Gracia met her in walking the streets and offered her a place to stay."

"That's fascinating, Hughes, but was it really necessary to bring her into headquarters? I mean, do you even know this girl?" Mustang asked in a bored tone, as if he were used to Hughes' quirkiness by now.

"That's the thing, Roy. I don't know her. And she knows exactly who I am. Knows who you are, too." Hughes said dramatically.

"Is that right?" Mustang straightened up and looked at Rachel with interested eyes. "How is that?"

"Please, Mr. Mustang, sir, I don't even know how I got here. I was just looking at a book, and then I saw a big door, and then I was falling. I landed on top of that Edward kid, and he-"

"Wait a second. You've seen Fullmetal?"

"And his brother, the armor." Rachel clarified.

"Right. Hawkeye, I want you to go tell Falman to find Fullmetal. We need his side of the story." The blonde woman left, and Mustang turned toward Rachel again. "Continue."

"Well, the Edward kid, he said the big door was a Gate and I think that's how I got here 'cuz Harper, Marie and Anna were always talking about a Gate and that's how Ed lost his limbs and-"

"How do you know about that?" Mustang's words were sharp.

"God, I dunno. My friends were all obsessed with this crap and I guess I remembered it."

Rachel was very confused at the incredulous look Mustang was giving her. He shook his head.

"I don't get any of this." At that moment Edward and Alphonse barged in, followed closely by Hawkeye.

"What's all this about, Colonel B-" he broke off when he saw Rachel. "It's you!"

"Yeah, it is." Rachel glared at him.

Ed returned the glare.

"Well! I guess you guys have a lot to talk about, so I'm just gonna-" Hughes started out the door.

Mustang shot him a cold look. "Nobody's going anywhere until I get the whole story." He turned his head to look at Ed, and grinned sarcastically.

"You first, Fullmetal."

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"AGH!"

"Harper, shut UP." Anna and Marie said together. This was getting annoying. "Like you're the only one missing out on anything while Rachel's in Amestris," Anna pointed out.

"We don't even know for sure if she IS in Amestris," said Marie.

"But the evidence all points to it. The book with the transmutation circles, the fact that Rachel was last seen looking at it-"

"The fact that there is no other evidence," Anna finished.

"Don't be negative," snapped Harper.

"Guys, chill. We just have to find the Gate she went through." Marie reasoned.

"Well, no frickin' DUH." Harper rolled her eyes. "That can't be hard, seeing as the world of Fullmetal Alchemist is _so real_ and all. Let me go get my spare Gate and we can find Rachel." Heavy sarcasm.

"Yeah, right." Anna added.

Marie glared. "Come on guys, for some reason the world of Amestris has become real and we're sitting around arguing? We have to find Rachel, then we can revel in the awesomeness of Amestris."

"Fine." Harper cocked her head to the side. "Hey, let me see that book."

Marie handed it over, her eyes wide with wonder.

"What are you- OHHHHHHHHHH," Anna practically sprinted over to Harper.

'What's up, guys?" Marie was still lost.

"Well, obviously if this was the last thing Rachel was doing before she disappeared…" Anna started.

"Then the Gate has to be in this book somewhere." Harper finished, madly flipping through the pages.

"Oh." Marie wandered over.

"Found it." Harper looked smug.

The huge eye in the center of the Gate stared back at the three girls. The red-violet iris seemed to bulge- like it was trying to tear its way out of the book. Anna gasped; the eye had blinked.

"It's really happening," Marie whispered.

The eye blinked again, and the three girls began the spiral into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: So guys!!! What's up? I know, this is kinda boring, but it's in the developing stages. It's gonna get so much better.**

**P.S: Marie is forcing me to tell you that she has not ceased.)**

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_Mustang shot him a cold look. "Nobody's going anywhere until I get the whole story." He turned his head to look at Ed, and grinned sarcastically._

"_You first, Fullmetal."_

Ed made a sound somewhere between a snort and a growl, but he didn't stop the glaring contest he was in the middle of.

"Stop it, you two!" Mustang commanded. Rachel jumped and looked away. Ed thought she looked quite afraid of Mustang, and opened his mouth to ask why, but a glare from Mustang silenced him.

"I want the story- NOW!" Mustang was clearly pissed.

"Well, I was walking out of the library with Al when this _girl_-" he exaggerated the word- "fell out of the sky. On top of me."

Mustang laughed out loud. "Really? I never thought you were one for the ladies, Fullmetal."

"Whatever. So then I asked what she was doing, and she said she had been looking at a book. She said there was a picture of a big door with an eye on it."

Mustang nodded. "The Gate."

"Yeah, that's what I said. I asked her if she could tell me what she remembered. She said she would, and then she screamed 'I know you! You're those weird guys my friends are obsessed with!' or something like that, and ran off." Ed rolled his eyes.

Mustang was still confused. "But how did you come through the Gate without giving something in return?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "I don't know- but I never thought of that. I-I know that's how that Ed kid lost his body… but that's all I know."

"How does she know this?" Ed demanded.

"Hey! I'm right here! And my name isn't 'she'- it's Rachel!" she screamed.

Mustang looked agitated. "Calm down, please. Now- where did you learn all of this stuff?"

"You mean- about you guys? About this place-about this world?" Rachel asked.

Mustang nodded again.

"Well, like I said, my friends Marie, Harper and Anna are all obsessed with you guys. This is all just a story in my world." Rachel had accepted that she definitely was NOT in Kansas anymore- or even on Earth, for that matter.

"…A story?" Ed echoed.

"Someone's obsessed with me?" Al asked incredulously.

"Doesn't surprise me that I have adoring fans." Mustang said seriously.

Ed snorted. "Only you would say that."

"Hello?! We have a crisis here!" Rachel yelled.

"Well, we can't exactly get much more out of the story. Unless, of course, your friends somehow get here…"

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"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Three girls fell out of the sky, much in the manner that Rachel had. Of course, there were (conveniently) people below them to soften the fall.

"Ow." Harper sat up, rubbing her head. "Somehow, I did not picture our arrival this way…"

"Ow is right," complained Havoc. "Do you think you could get up?"

"HAVOC!" Harper squealed, and launched herself at Havoc again, throwing her arms around him.

"Erm… sorry," apologized Anna, picking herself up off of Breda. "Hey wait guys- it's Breda!!"

"We did it guys- we really came!! We made it!!" Marie's smile was huge as she emerged from a ginormous bear hug with Fuery (who looked slightly dazed).

Everyone eventually got off the ground- quite embarrassed- and then Havoc asked, "So, where'd you guys come from?"

"Ummmmm… Earth." Anna said- totally clueless.

Havoc, Breda and Fuery shared a confused look. "Where's that?" Fuery voiced the unspoken question.

"Well… it's kind of a long story." Harper looked around, amazed. "By any chance, are we in Central?"

"Well, yeah. I guess we should probably take you to see Colonel Mustang. He'll know what to do…" Havoc scratched his head at Harper's reaction.

"SQUEEEE! Come on guys- let's go let's go!!" Harper grabbed Anna and Marie's arms and began violently dragging them towards the large and totally obvious military headquarters.

"I've never seen someone so happy to see the Colonel…" Havoc commented.

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"I'm lost. This is waaaay too confusing. I'm just going to go lie down and listen to some Gerard and TRY to make sense of this crap." Rachel grumbled.

"…What's Gerard?" Ed asked, honestly curious for once.

Rachel laughed. "You're good."

Nobody else laughed.

Rachel stopped laughing. She looked around the room. Everybody was wearing slightly bemused expressions.

"You're serious??? You've NEVER heard of Gerard Way???" Rachel looked like she was about to explode.

"No… should I have?" Ed asked, a fake look of total innocence spread over his face. Mustang looked as if he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Hughes was already doubled over in silent laughter.

"GOD!!! Why am I even HERE?!?" Rachel stormed out of the room.

As she was clomping down the hall, however, a strange group of people was walking in the opposite direction…

"Come ON, guys, let's GO!" Harper urged Marie and Anna on, ignoring the awed look they gave everything and everyone (some people looked quite frightened) they passed by.

"Hey wait. Isn't that…?" Anna came back to reality long enough to spot a familiar figure stomping down the hall.

"Rachel…?"


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N: Wow… this is so much frickin' fun. I never really liked writing… but this is totally fun. For some odd, unexplainable reason.)**

"RACHEL!!!" The three girls screamed, and ran toward her. Rachel turned in their direction, astonished.

"How…how did you guys get here???" Rachel asked, although the sound was muffled because Marie, Anna and Harper were smothering her in hugs.

"Well, when you didn't show up for connections we figured you were just skipping again…" Anna began.

"But Harper was all worried so she convinced us to go to the library after school…" Marie continued.

Harper shot her a glare. "And we found that old book. So we used some amazing deduction skills, and went through the Gate to find you."

Rachel was surprised. "You came after me?"

Marie rolled her eyes. "No way we would pass up a chance to come to Amestris!"

"Well, well… Are these your friends- my devoted fans?" Mustang walked out into the hall.

"MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Harper screamed at the top of her lungs. She sprinted toward him, quickly closing the distance between them. She launched herself at him, nearly knocking Mustang to the ground.

"I see some of my fans are much more adoring than others." Mustang was still calm, considering he had just been attacked by a teenage girl.

"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!!! I can't believe I'm actually meeting you!!!"

"That's flattering and all, but do you think you could get off of me?" Mustang asked.

"Oh…yeah, I guess so." Harper dislodged herself and walked back to her friends, and whispered excitedly, "I just hugged MUSTANG!"

Mustang smoothed his uniform, and said, "Can we please go back to my office and talk about this?"

Everyone nodded their consent and began the walk back to Mustang's office. Once there-

"Hey, Mustang, are these that girl's friends?" Hughes asked curiously.

"No, these are just some random strangers we picked up off the streets." Havoc remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Well they might be some random people that just happened to know her from somewhere…" Hughes pointed out.

"Stop messing around guys! We need to figure out this whole mess before other people from their world get here!" Mustang fumed.

"Oh crap…" Marie muttered. "We left the book just sitting there in the library…"

Rachel gasped. "You mean now anyone can just open the book and come here?"

"Hopefully the librarian will put it away." Marie said optimistically.

"Or anyone who walks into the library could just pick it up and check it out. Because we're so smart that we just _left_ it there." Anna debated.

Harper sighed. "I'm pretty sure that the librarian will put it away. Still, we need to consider the possibility that she might not. We need to find a way home."

Marie looked depressed for a moment. "But I want to stay here for a while… I mean, come on! This is a once in a lifetime chance here!"

Harper smiled. "I didn't say we had to leave right now…"

During this exchange, the rest of the crew were staring at them, obviously not sure what to say or do.

At that moment, Ed and Al barged in, Ed complaining, "We looked all over, but we couldn't find that girl…"

Rachel looked murderous. "If you call me 'that girl' one more time…"

As she glared at Ed, Anna ran up to Al, hugged him fiercely, and walked away. Marie was speechless where she stood, staring at Ed in awe. Harper grinned and said, "Hi guys! My name's Harper. This is Marie-" Harper elbowed her- "And that girl over by Al is Anna. We're HUGE fans."

Al turned to look at her. "Nice to meet you guys."

"Well, now we have Rachel's friends, so we can hear what they have to say." Mustang looked at them expectantly.

Harper looked uncomfortable. "Well, you probably got the whole story about the Gate being inside the book…"

Ed was amazed. "You guys know what the Gate looks like?"

"Well, duh. We had to go through it to get here." Anna snorted.

Ed looked at Al. "Do you think they know anything about the Philosopher's Stone?" he said in a low tone.

Marie blinked a few times, and then found her voice again. "Of course we know about it! Who knows about the Fullmetal Alchemist and doesn't know about the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Marie!" Harper grabbed her and took her aside. "If we tell them too much, it will screw up everything! Obviously they haven't found out much about it yet. If they know that we know, it will mess with the plot."

"I'm sure that just being here is messing with the plot," Marie hissed.

"Whatever. Wait until we find out what episode we're in! Then you can talk." Harper let Marie go, and turned to face everyone. "Anything else anyone wants to know?"

"Yeah. Where exactly are you from?" Breda questioned.

"Earth." Marie stated simply.

"But what exactly is Earth?" Hawkeye spoke for the first time.

"Well, it's a big planet. You know, out in space?" Anna replied, all smart-alecky.

Ed sighed. "Earth is the parallel universe on the other side of the Gate."

Harper smiled. _Yes!_

Mustang looked bewildered, then nodded. "Makes enough sense, considering all we've been through today. I guess that's it for now. You may go."

"But sir, they need a place to stay." Hawkeye pointed out.

Mustang nodded. "I suppose."

Hawkeye turned to the girls. "One of you can stay with me."

Marie laughed. "Harper, how about you?"

Harper shot her a glare.

"Just kidding. I'll stay with you, Miss Hawkeye." Marie was still laughing.

Anna fished in her pockets. "I have some cash."

"Oh, me too. We can rent a room somewhere." Harper decided.

Rachel looked confused. "Where will I stay?"

"With my family, of course. Didn't Gracia already promise you that?" Hughes laughed.

Rachel sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N: Hello all! I think you probably noticed my obsession with Mustang last chapter. And my obvious dislike of Hawkeye. So yeah.)

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Four girls walked out of Central Headquarters, closely followed by a blonde kid and a suit of armor.

"Hey. Wait up!" Edward Elric shouted after them.

Harper, Marie and Anna turned around. Rachel kept going, but when her friends stopped, she groaned and turned around with them reluctantly.

"You said you knew about the Philosopher's Stone." Ed pointed at Marie. "Tell me everything you know."

Harper crossed her arms. "First, you tell us what you know, then we'll talk."

Ed looked taken aback for a moment, then abruptly he looked angry. "Why should I?"

Anna gave him a small smile. "Because, if we tell you something you don't know, it would ruin everything."

Al looked at his older brother, and then spoke softly. "We know it's made from living humans."

Marie nodded.

Rachel made an 'ew' face.

"We also know that it can defy the law of 'equivalent exchange'."

"This we know." Harper turned to the others. "I think it's safe to assume that the series is over. Or at least close," she whispered to them.

"But Hughes is alive. And so is Ed." Marie argued.

"Well, I don't know! I'm only trying to be reasonable!" Harper snapped.

Anna shushed them. "They'll hear you!"

The group fell silent. Then Rachel said, "I think we should all go to our… temporary homes and take a nap or something. We aren't going to get anywhere while we're tired and hungry."

The girls split the circle, and everyone but Rachel said goodbye to Ed and Al. And instead of adventuring around Central, they all went back inside Headquarters to find their guardians.

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"Oooh, look, and here she is at her 3rd birthday, isn't she adorable? And here she is riding her tricycle for the first time… and here she is…"

Rachel yawned, totally bored with the conversation. Hughes didn't seem to notice.

"…Isn't she just so cute?…"

Rachel yawned again, and a few minutes later she was dead asleep in the car.

She woke up several hours later, in a nice, comfy bed. _I guess I'm in Hughes' house_, she thought. _Nice of them to put me in a bed_.

She walked out into the main room, sure that she looked terrible. As she walked down the hall, a small… _something _grabbed her at the legs. Rachel almost screamed, but then realized that it was just a kid. Well, not just _any_ kid…

'Hi! My name's Elysia. Wanna play?"

Rachel was still partially asleep. "Whaa…?"

Elysia wasn't fazed. "Wanna play?"

"Umm... yeah, sure." Rachel blinked a few times.

Elysia smiled. "Hooray!"

Gracia came into the hall at that moment. "Elysia, are you bothering our guest?"

"No, I just want to play!"

Gracia laughed. "I'm sorry Rachel. Would you like something to eat?"

"Yeah… sounds great."

Rachel followed Gracia into the kitchen, where Hughes sat at the table, eating what looked like soup.

"Good morning Rachel." Hughes smiled at her.

Rachel smiled slightly back. Gracia grabbed a bowl, poured some soup in, and handed it to Rachel.

"Eat up." Gracia said, then left the kitchen to watch Elysia.

They ate their soup in silence, until Hughes spoke.

"So, do you practice any alchemy?"

Rachel nearly choked on her soup. "Excuse me?"

Hughes looked amused. "I'll take that as a no."

"Why would I? Alchemy's a freak show."

"I agree." Hughes nodded.

Rachel finished her soup, thinking, _I might actually like it here_.

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"One double bedroom."

"Alright, go up the stairs and to your right. Room 312."

"Thank you." Harper and Anna walked up to their room. It was decent enough. Everything was neat, in its place. _Not for long_, Harper thought, amused.

"Well, I don't know about you, Harper, but I am definitely NOT tired." Anna spun around to face her.

Harper grinned. "Are you kidding? There's no way I'm sleeping anytime soon."

"What do you want to do then?"

Harper thought for a moment, then her smile grew even wider. "Let's go bother Ed and Al."

"Heck yes!"

They left the room quickly and rushed out the hall. Once outside, they stopped for a moment. "If I were Ed and Al, where would I be?" Harper pondered.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Duh, a library or something."

"…Right…"

They left the room, and hurried down to the library. Of course, Ed and Al were inside, reading some rather large and old-looking books.

"Whatcha doin'?" Anna questioned.

Al spun to face her. "Oh! It's you. You scared me."

"Sorry. Anyway, what are you guys doing?" Anna pressed.

"We were reading up on the Gate, trying to find out if there was anything we missed. We need to know how you got from your world to ours through it- without giving anything in return."

Harper was staring at Ed, but not in a weird way. She looked kinda curious.

'You really get into reading, don't you?"

Ed's blonde head snapped up. "What?"

"I mean, you were totally lost in that book until a minute ago…" Harper trailed off.

"Well, this is interesting. I mean, your story is pretty strange, and I want to find out how it all really happened, and why." Ed explained.

"Yeah, that's cool." Harper nodded, while in the background Anna tried to jump on Al.

Ed returned to his book, and then Anna and Harper got bored. So they left to go try to find something interesting and not potentially life-threatening to do.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Your mom," Hawkeye said, and Marie burst out laughing at the stoic Lieutenant as she tried to break the awkward silence. The two were driving through Central on the way to Hawkeye's tiny apartment.

"I didn't know you were capable of cracking jokes," Marie said, breathless from laughing.

"That's what everyone says." Hawkeye turned around and smiled. At that exact moment, another car came speeding down the road, straight for the car Marie and Hawkeye were in. Hawkeye's head twisted back around, and she immediately sprang into action. **(A/N- I may not like Hawkeye, but she's pretty ninja. Like me :3)** Her quick reaction saved both of their lives.

A squirrel lounging on the road took the full extent of the collision. As Hawkeye madly spun the wheel, the poor squirrel was caught in the rotating tires. Its neck was quickly snapped and it died instantly.

After Hawkeye got the car back in control, her eyes swept the streets for any sign of the offensive driver. Having no luck, she pulled over. Marie sat in silence for a moment, stunned.

"Are you all right, Marie?" Hawkeye looked concerned.

"I-I'm fine…"

Hawkeye nodded briskly, spun around and appraised the car.

"Almost no damage. That's good." She saw the squirrel, and a slightly disgusted expression crossed her face. Marie spotted it as well, and she immediately looked away.

"The poor squirrel…" Marie murmured.

Hawkeye turned again to face her. "A small sacrifice, when you think of the fact that we both could have died instead of that squirrel."

Marie looked up at her stern face. Then the Lieutenants' face softened, and she said, "Let's go get something to eat."

Marie smiled weakly, and Hawkeye started up the car and they drove away.

Watching them go was a dark figure, sitting in the car that had nearly killed the two.

"Damn. I was sure I had them… That Hawkeye's better than I thought. I'll have to try harder to get the girl, or Father won't be pleased… I wonder what his problem with those girls is…"

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!! Dun Dun Dun!!! What happens next? Who is this mysterious figure trying to do away with Marie and Hawkeye? And what will happen to the others???? The world may never know… but YOU will!**

**~Harper Pwnz**


End file.
